Post-Chemo Updates

Just met with Dr Kang and had some scans done.

The last two rounds of chemo were unsuccessful. We knew that it would stop working sooner or later- that's why chemo is not a long term option. It appears that we have now used up it's usefulness.

Dr Kang has gotten approval for me to try another experimental medication. It has been used in a type of pediatric tumor that shows very similar characteristics to mine, including the missing genes. 4 out of 5 patients have had good results from the drug, so he is hopeful that it will be effective against mine. We are waiting for one more piece of administrative something or other to get done, and then we will be able to start the drug.

In the meantime, I have my bronchial surgery on Monday- they are going to re-check my airway and hopefully put in the permanent stent they wanted to do in the first place but were unable to. We are discussing the option of possibly doing some radiation immediately following that procedure, as another way to possibly shrink the tumors a little bit before we start the new drug. The final decision on radiation will be made after Dr Kang gets the report back from my procedure on Monday.

So for the next week, it's just a rest and wait deal. Monday we'll have some more answers and updates on how we're going to proceed for the next couple weeks. Dr Kang was hopeful that he could finish getting the drug ready in a week or two, so any radiation that we do will probably be very short term.

Love you all. Keep praying..